What would have happened if St Pancras station had been closed?

In 1980 the were serious proposals, and not for the first time, to close both Marylebone and St Pancras stations in London.

Jago Hazzard takes us through the plans and why they came to nothing. Before I go any further, let my suggest you like this video, follow him on YouTube and have a look at his Patreon page.

One thing he does not explain is how trains from the Midland Main Line would have reached Euston. There was no existing connection they could have used nor any obvious new one that could have been built.

I don't know what the London Amenity & Transport Association had in mind in 1980, but a post on RailUKforums tells us what British Rail had in mind when there were serious plans to close St Pancras in the 1960s:

The broad outline plan was that the Bedford Suburban services would be diverted from St. Pancras into Moorgate, much as it happened later with Thameslink. Main Line services were proposed to be diverted from Market Harborough over the now closed line to Northampton, and into Euston, with the lines involved electrified. It was also proposed at one point that the line between Market Harborough and Bedford would close, with Wellingborough and Kettering losing their rail services. 

For about four years the St. Pancras to Nottingham Newspaper traffic, and the remaining St. Pancras to Glasgow overnight service were diverted to run out of Euston over the Northampton to Market Harborough route, before reverting to St. Pancras around 1970 after the station at St. Pancras had been reprieved.

Several floors of the old station Hotel at St. Pancras, which had been in use as offices, were relocated elsewhere during the period when closure seemed certain. Even after it was reprieved there was a lot of vacant office space left empty, and walking about up there could be very spooky at times.

It's worth reading the whole thread there. Other contributors say Bedford to Market Harborough would have remained open or that only the line between Kettering (Glendon North Junction be be precise) and Market Harborough would have closed.

I like the idea, possible if the latter closure had taken place, of a regular semi-fast service from St Pancras to Leicester via Corby and Melton Mowbray.

Heavy flooding at Wellingborough last week

PurpleVision - follow him on YouTube for East Midland disused railway goodness - went to Wellingborough last week to look at the overflowing River Nene.

He explored the Embankment area of town on foot - you can see it, swans and all, in happier circumstances in a post on this blog - and then filmed the wider area with a drone.

Wellingborough man pleads guilty to theft of £4.8m golden toilet from palace

Embed from Getty Images

It didn't take the judges long to decide this one.

The Northampton Chronicle & Echo walks away with our Headline of the Day Award. And the photo above is of that very toilet.

News from the Wellingborough front line: Reform candidate finds lots of support in the wrong constituency

At lunchtime today Ben Habib, the Reform candidate in the Wellingborough by-election, tweeted a short video to tell us how well polling day was going for him.

He commented in particular on the number of cars that tooted at his campaign bus as they passed.

Perhaps those cars were trying to tell him something? Because Habib was campaigning in Irthlingborough, which is in the Corby constituency.

I think you have to be logged into Twitter to see an embedded tweet these days, so I've put Habib's tweet at the bottom of this post rather than the top. I hope at least some of you will see it. 

That's Irthlingborough's impressive church above - thanks to Kate Cronin for this story.

Fantastic morning on the campaign trail.

Big chance to send a message to Westminster today, by voting for change — @benhabib6 !

Polling stations are open until 10pm 🕙 🗳️#BackBenHabib 🇬🇧 @reformparty_uk pic.twitter.com/bxwphdCEGU

— Ben Habib for Wellingborough (@BackBrexitBen) February 15, 2024

Conservative Home: The Conservative machine in Wellingborough is broken

Andrew Gimson, serial biographer of Boris Johnson and scion of a great Leicester Liberal family, has been to Wellingborough for Conservative Home.

44 Midland Road, though still named on the leaflets of Wellingborough Conservative Association as its address, was on Tuesday locked and deserted.

And this is curious, for in two weeks’ time a by-election will be held in Wellingborough, and one would expect the Conservative office to be a hive of industry as the party defends its majority of 18,540 over the Labour Party, won in December 2019 by Peter Bone, who gained the seat in 2005 and first contested it in 2001.

Not only that:

No indication is given in the window of 44 Midland Road of where locals, or indeed visitors, who wish to campaign for Harrison should report for duty, and Charlotte Ivers, of The Sunday Times, recently spent a day attempting in vain to find her.

Harrison is Helen Harrison, the girlfriend of the town's former Tory MP Peter Bone. He was the subject of a successful recall petition after he was suspended from the Commons. 

Helen Harrison, it should be said, is a significant local politician and has twice been a parliamentary candidate before. But her selection reinforces the impression that the campaign is firmly hands of the pro-Bone forces in the local party.

Perhaps as a result, Conservative Home has heard, said Gimson, that Tory MPs are refusing to go to Wellingborough to canvass for Harrison.

Having failed to find the Conservative campaign, Gimson did some vox pops in the town. He ran into the sort of people you tend to run into when you do vox pops during the middle of the day.

Later. Top North Northants Lib Dem Chris Stanbra points out on Twitter that:

Helen, who is a fan of "look I'm out campaigning" tweets, hasn't tweeted anything since ... 11th January.

Wellingborough by-election latest: Tories embarrassed by some of their candidate's nominators

The Conservative campaign in the Wellingborough by-election has run into trouble over two of the people who have nominated their candidate Helen Harrison.

They are pithily described by the Sun as:

a benefit fraudster and ex-cop who covered up drink driving.

And the paper goes on to give full details:

One of Harrison’s endorsers was Matt Binley, the son of Northampton South’s former MP, Brian Binley.

It was reported in the North Northants Journal that the ex-cop was slapped with a four month jail sentence in 2010 for conspiring to cover up drink driving.

Having smashed the car Binley then pretended that it was his relative who drove the car.

Another of Harrison’s local supporters is Bhupendra Patel, a convicted fraudster.

It was reported in the BBC that in 2013 Patel was given a suspended jail sentence for failing to disclose his councillor allowance while receiving incapacity benefit.

Patel resigned the Conservative whip once convicted.

This is simply a cracking news story, so it may be wise not to read too much into the fact that the Sun has reported it so fully. But I am reminded of the run up to the 1997 general election.

Then, Labour did not win because the Sun backed them: the Sun backed them because they were going to win. And I wonder if something similar may happen this year.

This report also confirms what I blogged the other day in my post about those spurious Facebook groups set up to campaign against the 20mph speed limit in Wales. The Tories have a problem with the sort of members they now attract.

And it makes you wonder if their Wellingborough campaign is being run by Peter Bone's Friends and Relations rather than people appointed for their competence.

Finally, a word in praise of tabloid news reporting. Notice how economically this story tells you what nominators do in an election.

Peter Bone out of parliament as recall petition succeeds

From NN Journal this evening:

Wellingborough MP Peter Bone’s 13 year political career has ended in disgrace this evening as residents have decided to remove him as their MP.

In the last ten minutes,  recall petition administrators North Northamptonshire Council, announced that 10,505 Wellingborough and Rushden constituents signed their names to end his political career. Ten percent were needed to remove the MP. In the end 13 per cent signed it.

The recall petition was begun after parliament suspended the MP following a damning report published in October which found during 2012 and early 2013 he had bullied and indecently exposed himself to a male employee.

Peter Bone has tweeted a statement complaining that he has lost his seat even though 87 per cent of voters in the constituency had failed to sign the petition.

Let's pause a moment to appreciate the irony: when Nick Clegg brought in this recall system under the Coalition, the right-wing of the Conservative Party complained bitterly that he had made it too hard to get rid of an MP.

A by-election will now take place. Gen Kitchen will be the Labour candidate and Ana Savage Gunn the Liberal Democrat.

Former Tory council leader will back Labour if there's a Wellingborough by-election

If the recall petition against Peter Bone succeeds then Labour will have the support of a former Conservative leader of Wellingborough Borough Council, reports the Mirror:

Martin Griffiths, who has served as a councillor for 17 years, and is a former leader of Wellingborough Borough Council, said the area needs an “honest MP. Someone with integrity who puts residents first.” 

In a video message announcing he’d back Labour candidate Gen Kitchen, he said: “Our former Conservative MP has exploited his position, refused to stand down when called out and is costing taxpayers in excess of £100,000.”

The petition closes on Tuesday and the Liberal Democrat candidate if there is a by-election will be Ana Savage Gunn. 

News and gossip from Peter Bone's Wellingborough

All political eyes are turning to Wellingborough, so here are the latest reports.

Peter Bone, you may recall, is currently facing a recall petition following his suspension from the Commons for six weeks when the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards upheld five allegations of bullying and one of sexual misconduct against him.

Today's Sunday Times alleges that Bone offered to resign his seat immediately, provided the Conservative Party would guarantee his girlfriend, already an approved candidate, a place on the shortlist for the ensuing by-election.

If they failed to do so, the story also says, then Bone would stand as an Independent to split the Conservative vote.

Bone denies these allegations, saying that the plan was put to him by others, and he turned it down. But the report does say that he is expected to stand against the Conservatives if there is a by-election following the recall petition.

To force a by-election, that petition needs 7940 signatures, but the Northamptonshire Telegraph has reported local disquiet with the arrangements for signing it.

Marion Turner-Hawes, an Independent member of Wellingborough Town Council, says:

“I plan to make a complaint on the basis that it is completely inappropriate where they have assigned people. The biggest concern is that 7,000 to 8,000 people in Wellingborough are being sent to Finedon – four miles away. You could walk it but imagine if you’re elderly or disabled trying to get there under your own steam. There is a bus but it’s not easy."

She added:

"I know people can do a postal vote but they should not be forced to do that, it should be a choice.

"If we want democracy to work, it needs to be close to where people live. It’s not just in my ward. I’ve heard of people living near Redwell Leisure Centre having to go to Wellingborough Rugby Club in Cut Throat Lane."

The paper quotes North Northamptonshire Council, which is running the petition, as saying that some of the venues it normally uses as polling stations have Christmas events planned and are unwilling to make themselves available for the whole of the petition period.

On a happier note, Wellingborough Rugby Club wins our Name of the Day Award for having a ground called Cut Throat Lane. Their welcome sign must strike fear into arriving teams.

Ana Savage Gunn wins Name of the Day - and will be the Lib Dem candidate if there's a Wellingborough by-election

Congratulations to Ana Savage Gunn. Not only has she won this blog's rarely presented Name of the Day Award, she's been selected as the Liberal Democrat candidate in the event of a Wellingborough by-election.

This will take place if the recall petition for Peter Bone receives the necessary 7940 signatures.

North Northamptonshire Lib Dems tell us all about Ana:

Ana was born and raised in Northamptonshire, and brings a wealth of experience in public service and care with her. 

She joined Northamptonshire Police in 1985 and rose to the rank of Inspector, serving across the county - including in Wellingborough - and she supervised the tactical firearms team. 

In 1994, Ana helped run security at the Atlanta Olympics and a couple of years after this became a law enforcement consultant in the US before her return to the UK and Northamptonshire. 

When COVID-19 broke out Ana retrained as a Health Care Assistant and worked in her mother’s care home before becoming a COVID clinic coordinator in the county. 

Ana continues to work at the care home, and is a trustee of Northamptonshire Carers, located in Wellingborough.

The recall petition for Peter Bone opened today

The recall petition for Peter Bone, the Conservative MP for Wellingborough, opened today. This follows Bone's six-week suspension from the House of Commons after the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards upheld five allegations of bullying and one of sexual misconduct against him. The petition will remain open until Tuesday 19 December.

You can find full details of the petition process on the North Northamptonshire Council website. Voters will receive the equivalent of a polling card telling them where they can sign and reminding them of the need to bring photographic proof of identity when they do so. Registered postal voters will receive a petition form that they can sign and post back.

According to the House of Commons Library, it will take 7940 signatures to trigger a by-election in Wellingborough, and there are strict rules on what the media can and can't report about the petition while it is open.

But if you hear any of Bone's allies in the Conservative Party complaining about the recall process, just remember that when the law was brought in by Nick Clegg, the Tory right complained bitterly that it didn't make recalling MPs easy enough.

Wellingborough Conservatives: "If you make enough dubious claims, fast enough, honest speakers are overwhelmed"

With a by-election on the cards in Wellingborough after the decision to suspend Peter Bone for six weeks, it's time to take a look at the town's Conservatives. What sort of candidate will they choose? What sort of campaign, if given their head party by the national party, will they fight?

We have a clue in the shape of a document circulated to Tory activists in the town in 2020 and leaked to the Huffington Post.

The website's report on it said:

In a section calling for grassroots campaigners of Boris Johnson’s party to “learn” from Trump, the document says the president successfully managed to “weaponise fake news”.

“Trump has learnt that a ‘lie can go round the whole world before the truth can get its boots on’,” it says.

“If you make enough dubious claims, fast enough, honest speakers are overwhelmed. If someone tweets ten dubious claims per day and it takes you a week to disprove each one, then you are doomed.

“Trump uses this tactic to dominate the news and to crowd out legitimate politicians.”

The local party then instructs campaigners to “say the first thing that comes into your head”.

It says: “It’ll probably be nonsense, but it knocks your opponent out of his stride and takes away his headline.

“You then have a few seconds (possibly minutes) to reword it, say that you mis-spoke, were mis-heard, or whatever.

“You may get a bad headline saying that you spoke something silly, but you can live that down. Meanwhile your opponent is knocked off the news-feed.

“It runs counter to everything that traditional politicians are taught – viz. never say anything that is not 100% accurate. The problem is that 100% right, two weeks late equals defeat.

“Sometimes, it is better to give the WRONG answer at the RIGHT time, than the RIGHT answer at the WRONG time.”

Telling voters to F*** Off didn't work in Tamworth, so maybe they will try to ape Trump in Wellingborough.

North Northamptonshire Lib Dems' statement on Peter Bone

Here's the local Liberal Democrat reaction to news of the recommendation by the Independent Expert Panel that Peter Bone MP be suspended from the Commons for six weeks:

Like many others we are shocked at the content of the allegations against Mr Bone. We believe these are a clear breaking of the bonds of trust and confidence between him and the constituency, and that Mr Bone’s position is untenable. 

We echo the call from Liberal Democrat Chief Whip Wendy Chamberlain MP that Mr Bone must resign rather than subject his constituents to the drawn-out recall process, and that Local Conservatives and the Prime Minister must ensure the whip is removed. If not, we will be fully supporting the recall effort. Whether it is through a by-election or a General Election, the people of Wellingborough and Rushden deserve to get their say on a fresh start away from Conservative Party sleaze and scandal.

We also want to stress that our thoughts and concerns are with the staff member who made the complaint. We hope that they are receiving the support they deserve from the Conservative Party and the Commons authorities.

Welly Telly: When Wellingborough had its own television station

Curious British Telly had a post a couple of days ago on The Curious Tale of Bristol Channel, and that has led me to the blog Prodge's Views and the even more curious tale of Wellingborough Cablevision.

In 1972, Christopher Chataway, the minister of posts and telecommunications, announced plans for five local cable channels. They were to be in Bristol, Greenwich, Sheffield, Swindon and Wellingborough.

As Prodge's Views says, with admirable honesty:

What strikes me about Wellingborough's foray into this early broadcasting experiment is that the town certainly doesn't strike you as a media-savvy environment. It's an average-sized market town, dwarfed by at least two or three other places in the county. 

It would be understandable if its bigger brother, Northampton, had gone in for this venture, or at least Corby or Kettering.

Nevertheless, Wellingborough Cablevision - soon to be affectionately known as 'Welly Telly' - began to be piped into homes across the town on 24 March 1974. The people to see if you wanted to sign up for the service were Mobile Radio in Midland Road.

Prodge has been able to find little information on the station, though he does have a friend who remembers appearing on it live as part of a children's choir.

So let me do my bit for Welly Telly scholarship by quoting an article from The Stage (6 February 1975):

Wellingborough goes live 

At a time when the cable television experiment is going through a sticky patch the companies in both Greenwich and Bristol have expressed doubts as to whether they will be able to continue for much longer, even at reduced pressure, Cablevision (Wellingborough) Ltd at Wellingborough has increased its facilities to enable live programmes to be transmitted from its studio. 

The station, which began operating in March of last year, has 4,500 subscribing homes. Until recently it has been transmitting recorded programmes between 5.30 and 6.30 daily and repeating them at noon on the following day. From January 27, there has been a live transmission between 8 and 10 pm every Monday evening. 

A spokesman for Cablevision said this week, "We are now able to include live interviews and discussions in our Monday programming and this has added a lot of excitement to our work. All our programmes are planned and put on by groups in the community and the extra time and facilities will enable us to increase the scope of our productions. 

"We have a bye election coming up soon and we shall be able to make our first real contribution to the political scene on the previous Monday."

That by-election must have been for the local council, as there was no parliamentary contest in Wellingborough that year. And the station was to close on 24 March 1975 after exactly a year of broadcasting.

But keep your eyes open in the town. Prodge quotes one resident:

"If you know what you are looking for around Wellingborough, you can still see cables running along the walls of houses, just below the gutters, and a few booster amplifiers for the old 'piped TV' system.

British Tories are adopting Trump's tactics

A confidential briefing sent to Conservative members of Wokingham Borough Council sets out plans to disrupt the authority's meetings.

As reported by Wokingham Today, which has obtained a copy of the briefing, it 

lays out a number of tactics including interfering [with] speeches, accusations of bias and taking credit for the policies of other parties.

When contacted by the paper, the Tories doubled down on their accusation that the Liberal Democrat mayor of the borough is biased.

It's tempting to see this as a sign that Boris Johnson's personal moral shortcomings are infecting his party. 

But this is not the only such internal Tory document to come to light. And the one that emerged from Wellingborough Conservatives 18 months ago was inspired by Donald Trump, not his British wannabe.

Here is Rachel Wearmouth's report on it for the Huffington Post:

In a document circulated to activists, Wellingborough Conservatives urge campaigners to "say the first thing that comes into your head" as "you can live that down later". ...

In a section calling for grassroots campaigners of Boris Johnson’s party to "learn" from Trump, the document says the president successfully managed to "weaponise fake news".

"Trump has learnt that a 'lie can go round the whole world before the truth can get its boots on'," it says.

“If you make enough dubious claims, fast enough, honest speakers are overwhelmed. If someone tweets ten dubious claims per day and it takes you a week to disprove each one, then you are doomed.

“Trump uses this tactic to dominate the news and to crowd out legitimate politicians.”

No doubt more documents like this will emerge..

Thanks to Antony Hook for tweeting the report from Wokingham Today.

John Betjeman visits St Mary the Virgin, Wellingborough

St Mary the Virgin, a 20th-century church near Wellingborough railway station, is famous for the interior by its architect Sir Ninian Comper. I have tried to visit it a couple of times but found it locked.

John Betjeman had more luck when he made this for Shell in 1960, but if ever a film cried out for colour stock...

Click on the still above to watch it on the British Film Institute site.

Where the swans are tasty geezers: Victoria Mills, Wellingborough

As rail replacement coaches have been a theme of the past week, here is a structure I first saw from one of the things on the way from Market Harborough to Bedford.

Victoria Mills stands by the Nene on the edge of Wellingborough. It was never powered by the river, but grain was delivered to it by water until 1969.

The building is still in use and forms part of a complex operated by Whitworths.

But there is more to the area than that. I was surprised to find a small pleasure park on the other side of the river.

And then there were the birds - smart gulls and a remarkable quantity of swans.

They are the guvnors. Tasty geezers. Get lairy and they will show you whose manor it is.

The geese on the campus at York had the same air of owning the place. They never attacked anyone, but they gave the impression that they might at any moment.

BeerHeadZ at Nottingham station

There seems to be a trend for opening pubs in redundant buildings on railway stations. I have blogged before about Wellingborough's Little R'Ale House and I recently visited BeerHeadZ on Nottingham station.

NottinghamshireLive explains:

It’s cosy. Very cosy in fact. With a capacity of just 36, it has the honour of being the city's smallest pub. 

The historic cabman's shelter has been turned into a relaxed, no frills spot for a pint, a glass of wine or even a bottle of posh pop. 

Since opening at the beginning of December, BeerHeadZ has tempted drinkers with no fewer than 47 different cask and keg ales as well as a fridge full of lagers and ciders.

I have also tried visiting the Sheffield Tap, but it was so popular I decided I would never get served.

The Little R'Ale House at Wellingborough station

The Little R'Ale House is a micro pub at Wellingborough station and has just celebrated its first birthday.

It is based in the old Ammo Room, where the detonators used in fog were stored. There are also a few tables outside, which was welcome in Saturday afternoon's sun.

Former Conservative PCC charged with disclosing information in case involving Conservative MP

From the Northants Herald & Post today:

Northamptonshire's first ever Police and Crime Commissioner appeared in court today ... accused of passing information about Wellingborough MP Peter Bone. 

Adam Simmonds, aged 39, denied disclosing information relating to a criminal investigation into the Conservative MP when he appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Simmonds was elected in 2012 and stood down at the PCC elections earlier this year.

The Herald & Post goes on to quote the words of the prosecuting counsel:

"This is a case relating to the disclosure of information regarding a criminal investigation into a then and current Member of Parliament.

"This was done by this defendant having received information in his capacity as Police and Crime Commissioner and passing it to a number of colleagues in the Conservative Party between the dates that we have heard. 

"It is plainly serious to disclose this information and plainly in breach of trust as a public servant, as he received this information in a professional capacity."